South Ossetia, based on national interests, is interested in maintaining peace and stability in the South Caucasus region, in ensuring that the revanchist forces in Georgia, with outside support, fail to impose a confrontational scenario that threatens to escalate tensions on the borders of the Republic, said Yury Vazagov, head of the analytical department of the Presidential Executive Office.
“The decisions made to abolish visas for Georgian citizens and resume direct flights between Moscow and Tbilisi cannot have any effect on the internal political situation in South Ossetia. Russian-South Ossetian relations are developing along a clearly defined vector, which was outlined on August 26, 2008 and enshrined in the framework interstate documents, including the Treaty of Alliance and Integration of 2015,” Vazagov said in the interview published on the official website of the Republican Presidential Executive Office.
According to the expert, the nature of relations between the Russian Federation and South Ossetia is once again reflected in the Foreign Policy Concept adopted on March 31 of this year.
“This strategic planning document, which systematically fixes the national interests of the Russian Federation in the field of foreign policy, emphasizes that the Russian Federation intends to give priority attention to comprehensive support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to promote the implementation of the voluntary choice of the peoples of these states based on international law in favor of deepening integration with Russia,” Vazagov has noted.
In his opinion, it should be taken into account that the growth of the Georgian economy in 2022-2023 is directly related to the intensification of trade relations with the Russian Federation, the influx of tourists and other well-known factors.
“In this regard, the abolition of visas and direct flights will be a new impetus to the development of tourism in Georgia and increase the business activity of that part of the population for which travel to Western countries was an unpromising activity. In certain scenarios, these processes can turn a large segment of the Georgian population interested in developing various ties with Russia into a natural counterbalance to the radical pro-Western sector in the Georgian internal political space. However, in the previous turning points of Georgia's recent history, this alignment has never worked in the right direction. Extremists and radicals have always prevailed over pragmatists trying to avoid a conflict scenario that is dangerous for their country," the official says.
At the current stage, he has concluded, Georgian society is again facing a choice, "either to continue dancing with a rake, or to prefer a pragmatic policy and a sober consideration of the realities that have developed since August 2008".
